(Part 2/3 – A summary of the Sunday morning teaching on 30-Aug-15, in AFT Church, English service. From the series The Foundation For Victorious Living)

3. PRECIOUS LOVE

For God so loved the world that He gave HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON

Every follower of Jesus is the son and daughter of God. But Jesus Christ is His unique Son. Jesus was with God right from the beginning. He is the express image of God. We are only human beings made in the image and likeness of God. So when God sacrificed His Son Jesus Christ for us, He was giving His most precious gift. That indicates how valued we are.

If we want to know the price of a house in a particular neighborhood we check the price that was paid for the latest sale in that area. Do you know what was the only and last price paid for the human soul? It was the very life of God’s ONLY SON Jesus Christ. That’s how preciously we are loved! So, the next time we are tempted to downplay our worth or categorize ourselves as nothing but dust, let’s reflect on our real market value that was paid by the blood of a beloved Son.

This amazing Father promised us not just a one-time gift of Salvation but that of a lifetime of His blessings. Romans 8:32 says, He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?’ In fact, this love led Paul to thank God for His indescribable gift in 2 Corinthians 9:15.

4.ALL INCLUSIVE LOVE

…that WHOEVER believes in Him…

God’s love covers everyone who believes in Him. It does not exclude anybody who exercises belief in Jesus.

Once I read about a man called Mr. Cline who led a life not caring about anybody else. So in his old age he found himself lonely because there was nobody to care for him. One day he heard the strains of a song from a church. The words caught his attention because it said that ‘Saved by grace alone. This is all my plea. Jesus died for old man Cline’. Surprised to hear about this Jesus who had died for ‘old man Cline’, he walked in to the church and sat on the last bench. He picked up the hymn book and saw that the lyrics actually were that ‘Jesus died for the whole mankind’. Somehow his ears had ‘misheard’ it as ‘old man Cline’. Even though his entry to the church was comical, God touched his grouchy heart on that day and ‘old man Cline’ committed his life to the Jesus who died for Him.

Closer home in our own church community, there was a lady who walked in hearing us singing during our worship service. She not only stayed for the whole service but continued to be a part of it for many years. Before she died, she put her faith in Jesus as her Lord and Savior.

So you see, God’s love is available to every person who chooses to believe in Him! God does not choose or segregate anyone by race, colour, creed, caste or nationality.

5. A LOVE THAT IS AVAILED BY SIMPLE FAITH

that whoever BELIEVES in Him…

There is no elaborate procedure that needs to be followed to follow God. All that is required of us is ‘belief’. That’s the only response He requires of us. John 3:16-18 says, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God’. We see that Jesus repeats the word ‘believe’ four times in this short passage. It shows how significant and yet simple our response to God’s love can be – believing in Jesus as our Savior. God doesn’t exclude anybody. People exclude themselves by not believing. They reject God’s offer.

…to be continued…

Malcare WordPress Security